Why I like the Fifth Doctor
Taken from the comments section of my previous post, just 'cause.
For reviews of Kinda and Caves of Androzani, visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/kinda/analysis.shtml
and
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/cavesandrozani/analysis.shtml
***
Looking back, I think it’s because some of the story-lines really caught my attention as a sprout. Kinda and Caves of Androzani in particular did it for me.
Kinda had those faux-British colonial soldiers going mad after contacting the natives on a jungle planet - which for some really resonated with me at the age of eleven. Some digression is necessary to explain properly.
I had a huge collection of 1:72 miniature soldiers and tanks and what not - as well as a kick-ass flying saucer model that folded open and contained multiple rooms. With these items (and my GI Joes and Transformers) I’d create great battles and role-play epic scenes in my bedroom - which was actually a planet ruled by me. I used a miniature of a WWII R.A.F. officer in dress uniform to represent myself - Emperor Pieter the First. (I’d just read Foundation for the first time.) My sisters bedrooms were other planets, and sometimes my armies would raid them. Often, the various factions in my bedroom would go to war with each other. For awhile, my citizens endured the cruel tyranny of Cykill and his Robotic Empire - but a plucky band of rebels lead by the King of Swampstar (a “country” that was actually a mixed box of space and medieval Lego under my bed) managed to overthrow them. This rebellion ushered in a new golden age for my planet, and I decided it was time to colonize.
That summer, I put together my Zulu War miniatures a model town from a train set I inherited from an Uncle. I’d set the town up in the backyard - it was my new colony. Alas, the lands around the colony were inhabited by strange, savage aliens (Zulus), who worked in cooperation with the evil Vandorian Space Empire (represented by the Afrika Corps) and its leader, General Woundwort (I'd also been reading Watership Down), to eradicate the fledgling community. Many exciting plotlines ensued, and I’d imagine myself as a member of this colony, alone in a vast forest haunted by cruel natives and the sworn enemies of my planet.
When I saw Kinda, it was like someone at the BBC had been reading my mind. At one point. Lt. Hindle even builds a little paper city populated with people. The setting and mood neatly matched my private game, and the metaphysical plot elements were my first exposure to SF as something more than “lasers and cool robots.” Or rather, the first exposure to such that resonated with me.
Caves of Androzani came out about the time I started playing RPGs (Doctor Who, natch!), and about the time puberty had just started putting the whim-wham on my emotional life. The whole dungeon atmosphere of the mines was uncannily like the early “dungeon crawl” adventures I wrote for Doctor Who. (The Daleks have put you in an underground prison, and you have to escape through the vents!)
And, of course, my mind was turning lightly to thoughts of young ladies about that time. Peter Davison’s noble death scene (he sacrifices himself to save Peri) was just about the sort of thing I imagined doing to really impress various young ladies of my acquaintance. You know the sort of thing - international thieves shanghai the field trip bus, and I nobly go to my death in order to save everyone, thus ensuring that the cute blonde girl in the fourth row remembers me forever.
Tom Baker was cool, but his storylines just didn't jibe with my internal life as much.
So, now you know.
Reading those reviews makes me remember why DR. Who was such a keen show...
For reviews of Kinda and Caves of Androzani, visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/kinda/analysis.shtml
and
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/cavesandrozani/analysis.shtml
***
Looking back, I think it’s because some of the story-lines really caught my attention as a sprout. Kinda and Caves of Androzani in particular did it for me.
Kinda had those faux-British colonial soldiers going mad after contacting the natives on a jungle planet - which for some really resonated with me at the age of eleven. Some digression is necessary to explain properly.
I had a huge collection of 1:72 miniature soldiers and tanks and what not - as well as a kick-ass flying saucer model that folded open and contained multiple rooms. With these items (and my GI Joes and Transformers) I’d create great battles and role-play epic scenes in my bedroom - which was actually a planet ruled by me. I used a miniature of a WWII R.A.F. officer in dress uniform to represent myself - Emperor Pieter the First. (I’d just read Foundation for the first time.) My sisters bedrooms were other planets, and sometimes my armies would raid them. Often, the various factions in my bedroom would go to war with each other. For awhile, my citizens endured the cruel tyranny of Cykill and his Robotic Empire - but a plucky band of rebels lead by the King of Swampstar (a “country” that was actually a mixed box of space and medieval Lego under my bed) managed to overthrow them. This rebellion ushered in a new golden age for my planet, and I decided it was time to colonize.
That summer, I put together my Zulu War miniatures a model town from a train set I inherited from an Uncle. I’d set the town up in the backyard - it was my new colony. Alas, the lands around the colony were inhabited by strange, savage aliens (Zulus), who worked in cooperation with the evil Vandorian Space Empire (represented by the Afrika Corps) and its leader, General Woundwort (I'd also been reading Watership Down), to eradicate the fledgling community. Many exciting plotlines ensued, and I’d imagine myself as a member of this colony, alone in a vast forest haunted by cruel natives and the sworn enemies of my planet.
When I saw Kinda, it was like someone at the BBC had been reading my mind. At one point. Lt. Hindle even builds a little paper city populated with people. The setting and mood neatly matched my private game, and the metaphysical plot elements were my first exposure to SF as something more than “lasers and cool robots.” Or rather, the first exposure to such that resonated with me.
Caves of Androzani came out about the time I started playing RPGs (Doctor Who, natch!), and about the time puberty had just started putting the whim-wham on my emotional life. The whole dungeon atmosphere of the mines was uncannily like the early “dungeon crawl” adventures I wrote for Doctor Who. (The Daleks have put you in an underground prison, and you have to escape through the vents!)
And, of course, my mind was turning lightly to thoughts of young ladies about that time. Peter Davison’s noble death scene (he sacrifices himself to save Peri) was just about the sort of thing I imagined doing to really impress various young ladies of my acquaintance. You know the sort of thing - international thieves shanghai the field trip bus, and I nobly go to my death in order to save everyone, thus ensuring that the cute blonde girl in the fourth row remembers me forever.
Tom Baker was cool, but his storylines just didn't jibe with my internal life as much.
So, now you know.
Reading those reviews makes me remember why DR. Who was such a keen show...